S2474-2011 Actions

• Jan 4, 2012: REFERRED TO LABOR
• Jan 21, 2011: REFERRED TO LABOR

S2474-2011 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S2474

TITLE OF BILL:

An act
to amend the labor law, in relation to the sharing of information with
state and municipal agencies and certain local development corporations

PURPOSE:

Allows the Department of Labor to share information with other
localities so that record keeping and statistical data may be more
accurate.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends subparagraph (ii) of paragraph g of
subdivision 3 of section 537 of the Labor Law by adding a new clause
(6) to allow for the disclosure of information collected by the State
Department of Labor to agencies in cities having a population of one
million or more and to the New York City Economic Development
Corporation.

Section 2 provides that the bill take effect immediately.

JUSTIFICATION:

This bill would clarify the authority of the State Department of Labor
to disclose to state and municipal agencies, including agencies of
the City of New York, certain employment data gathered by the State
Department of Labor and the State Department of Taxation and Finance
from employers in New York State. This employment data was shared
with the City of New York from 1989 to 2003 and was crucial to City
agencies' ability to perform analyses, such as the evaluation of
economic development strategies, important to the ongoing vitality of
the City. In 2004, the State Department of Labor determined that it
was not statutorily authorized to share this employment data. Lack of
access to this data has increasingly impeded several City agencies'
ability to generate the accurate and detailed analyses necessary to
the development of sound economic, fiscal, environmental and land use
policies.

The employment data, the analyses of that data and the policies and
programs that grew out of those analyses contributed directly to
strength of the City's economy and the welfare of its citizens.. As
noted, New York City agencies were recipients of this employment data
for many
years. The proposed bill, by clarifying the State Department of
Labor's statutory authority to share the employment data, will merely
restore the pre-2004 status quo. In addition, the confidentiality of
the data will be secure. Under N.Y. Labor Law � 537(g)(i), the
Commissioner has the authority to require that requesting agencies

sign agreements requiring that the data be kept confidential.
Furthermore, requesting agencies will be required to demonstrate to
the Commissioner's satisfaction that the agencies have adequate
security safeguards in place to avoid any unauthorized disclosure.

Without this crucial data, the activities and effectiveness of several
City agencies would be significantly hampered. For example, this data
enables the Department of City Planning to analyze the socioeconomic
impacts of actions requiring environmental review pursuant to the
State Environmental Quality Review Act ("SEQRA") and the City
Environmental Quality Review (the "CEQR"); it enables the Department
of Small Business Services to target businesses for which direct
assistance is appropriate, to promote financial and economic
opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses, and to provide
New Yorkers with workforce development opportunities, including
employment training; it enables the City's Office of Management and
Budget to analyze proposed legislation for its cost and revenue
implications and to forecast the tax revenues that the City's economy
will generate; and it enables the Economic Development Corporation to
evaluate an industry's strength in a particular neighborhood, to
determine the nature of existing businesses that could be displaced
as part of a development project, and to identity specific locations
that serve as focal points for particular industries. Lack of access
to this data would have far reaching effects
in terms of the City's overall economic health and on the
welfare of its individual citizens. The proposed bill would enable
them to perform the sophisticated analyses that are essential to
their mission.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.8346/S.6097 of 2007-2008 - Referred to Labor in Assembly and Rules in
the Senate
A.11193/S.5026 of 2010 Referred to Labor

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

S2474-2011 Text

 S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 
 S. 2474                                                  A. 2985
 2011-2012 Regular Sessions
 SENATE - ASSEMBLY
 January 21, 2011
 
 IN  SENATE -- Introduced by Sen. SAVINO -- read twice and ordered print
 ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor
 IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN -- read once  and  referred
 to the Committee on Labor
 

AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to the sharing of information
 with state and municipal agencies and certain local development corpo
 rations
 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

Section 1. Subparagraph (ii)  of  paragraph  g  of  subdivision  3  of
 section 537 of the labor law, as added by chapter 6 of the laws of 2007,
 clauses  1,  4  and  5  as amended and clauses 6, 7, 8 and 9 as added by
 chapter 551 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:

 (ii) The information disclosed  pursuant  to  this  paragraph  may  be
 disclosed  to  the  following  agencies  to  be used exclusively for the
 following legitimate governmental purposes:

 (1) any federal, state or local agency in the investigation  of  fraud
 relating to public programs, or misuse of public funds;
 (2)  any  state  or  United States territorial workforce agency, local
 workforce investment board and its agents, and one-stop operating  part
 ner  receiving  funds  under  the  workforce  investment act of 1998 for
 program performance purposes and other legitimate programmatic  purposes
 authorized by the commissioner;
 (3)  the  United States department of labor or its agents, as required
 by law, or in connection with the requirements imposed as  a  result  of
 receiving federal administrative funding;
 (4)  state  and  local economic development agencies, or their agents,
 where such information is necessary to carry out the statutory functions
 of such agencies, shall receive a quarterly  census  of  employment  and
 wage  information compiled by the department, provided that such disclo
 sure shall not violate federal  law.  Any  redisclosure  of  information
 obtained  by  such  agencies under this clause shall be limited to tabu
 lation and publication of such information in an aggregated  statistical
 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD05054-01-1
 
       S. 2474                             2                            A. 2985
 form.  No  individual  identifying information obtained pursuant to this
 clause shall be redisclosed in the course of the tabulation or  publica
 tion.  As  used  in  this clause, the term "aggregated statistical form"
 shall mean, in the case of information regarding individuals, a data set
 that  includes information about not fewer than ten individuals, and, in
 the case of employer information, a data set that  includes  information
 about  no fewer than three employers, of which no one employer comprises
 more than eighty percent of the aggregated data set; [and]
 (5) the workers' compensation board, the state insurance fund and  the
 state  insurance department, for purposes of determining compliance with
 the coverage of workers' compensation and disability  insurance  and  to
 the  workers' compensation board for purposes of determining eligibility
 for workers' compensation benefits[.];
 (6) any federal, state, or local law enforcement agency in  accordance
 with  a  proper  judicial  order  or grand jury subpoena served upon the
 department[.];
 (7) the office of temporary and disability assistance, or local social
 services districts, for purposes of establishing or verifying the income
 and eligibility of applicants for,  or  recipients  of,  benefits  under
 state public assistance programs for such benefits. Information obtained
 by  the  office of temporary and disability assistance under this clause
 shall not be disclosed, except to local social  services  districts  for
 purposes  of  establishing  or  verifying  the income and eligibility of
 applicants for, or recipients of, benefits under state public assistance
 programs[.];
 (8) the office of vocational and educational services for  individuals
 with  disabilities of the education department for the evaluation of the
 effect on earnings of participants, or former participants,  in  employ
 ment and training programs for which the office of vocational and educa
 tional  services  for  individuals  with  disabilities  of the education
 department has reporting, monitoring or evaluating responsibilities[.];
 (9) the commission for the blind  and  visually  handicapped  for  the
 evaluation  of the effect on earnings of participants, or former partic
 ipants, in employment and training programs for which the commission for
 the blind and visually handicapped has reporting, monitoring or evaluat
 ing responsibilities[.]; AND
 (10) AGENCIES OF CITIES HAVING A POPULATION OF ONE MILLION OR MORE AND
 THE NEW YORK CITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, WHERE SUCH  INFORMA
 TION IS NECESSARY FOR: THE DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF ECONOMIC DEVEL
 OPMENT   STRATEGIES  FOR  SPECIFIC  INDUSTRIES  AND  NEIGHBORHOODS;  THE
 PERFORMANCE OF LAND USE PLANNING, THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ECONOMIC  IMPACT
 STRATEGIES  FOR  SPECIFIC INDUSTRIES AND NEIGHBORHOODS, AND THE ANALYSIS
 OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF ACTIONS  REQUIRING  REVIEW  UNDER  STATE  OR
 LOCAL  LAW; THE EVALUATION OF TRENDS IN HIRING, EMPLOYMENT, AND WAGES IN
 SPECIFIC INDUSTRIES AND NEIGHBORHOODS AND  THE  MONITORING  OF  EMPLOYEE
 PLACEMENT  AND  TRAINING  PROGRAMS; OR THE FORECASTING AND MONITORING OF
 TAX REVENUE AND THE TRACKING OF EMPLOYMENT  PATTERNS  AND  WORKER  FLOWS
 ACROSS  SPECIFIC  INDUSTRIES  AND  NEIGHBORHOODS.  INFORMATION DISCLOSED
 PURSUANT TO THIS CLAUSE SHALL BE  LIMITED  TO  THE  FOLLOWING  FOR  EACH
 EMPLOYER:  NAME,  ADDRESS,  LOCATION,  INDUSTRY,  TOTAL WAGES, NUMBER OF
 EMPLOYEES, EMPLOYER AND REPORTING  UNIT  ACCOUNT  NUMBERS,  INITIAL  TAX
 LIABILITY DATE, AND CODES INDICATING PRIVATE OR GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP AND
 MULTIPLE ESTABLISHMENT EMPLOYERS.
 

S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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